we real cool

• themes of rebellion, youth, and mortality
• The poem is spoken by a group of seven teenagers hanging out outside a pool hall. These teens present themselves as rebels who skip school, stay out late, and party hard.
• the Golden Shovel symbolizes social deviance. However, the pool hall is also related to death. “We Real Cool” directly links the pool players' delinquent behavior to the likelihood of their dying young. Hence, the poem's troubling final sentence: “We / Die soon” (lines 7–8).
• stanzas, line breaks, repetition, alliteration, and rhyme, to develop the poem's message that an idle life can lead to disaster.
• perspective of one of the teenagers